Chapter 6

Jaime 1

Road to Westerland - 296 AC

Jaime simply didn't know what, or how to say his feelings regarding his imminent return to Casterly Rock, if only for the reason that he was there to both safeguard his 'nephew' and ensure the boy's formal martial educations toward knighthood, even if said boy has proven again and again to be prodigious, cunning fighter that are already fighting on par with the best warriors on the realm.

He even already blooded enough to not be called an absolute greenhorn, having already helped Jaime in a real fight against bandits (just routine patrols and catching some more dangerous outlaws), as he shown firsthand that his flails are definitely a deadly weapon capable to break human heads and inflict grievous harm. Jaime could see that Jojo do have his own eagerness to fight, but still, that could also originate from Robert's.

And let's not talk about Jojo's flirtatious mannerism with girls, and his hobbies that reminds Jaime too much with Robert... or Tyrion, actually. He not yet hit puberty yet, so its just all games and fun talking about girls and stealing chances to peep on them changing clothes or bathing, but when puberty hit him, deep down Jaime feared that Jojo would get his first bastard, or two, and Cersei would have thrown a tantrum in return of 'another bastard staining her family name', just like what she said to Robert, oh well.

Not that Jaime himself mind his nephew if Jojo turned out to be trueborn though, Jojo is among the closest family member he had that get his unconditional trust (other than Cersei - she's his lover mind you), and he loved Jojo for what he is. Cersei also loved her son too, even if she does admit that she once hoped Jojo could act more like Jaime and less like Robert, but well, at least Cersei must never meant that as Jojo end up being with her like...

What is he thinking about? Jaime spontaneously shakes his head and returned his focus to the road ahead, confirming that once again, both Jojo and the Hound still ride safely in front of him, and behind the armored screen of ten Lannister men riding sightly ahead of them, with another eight ride at their back.

Such heavy guards are justified in light of the recent 'problem' at the Red Keep, but still, Jaime could count himself on the few that knew the whole truth about the latest debacle. Not everyone knew that Jojo do have some sort of magical powers, but Jaime is among the three or five men at most who knew the truth. Robert and Cersei definitely didn't know about that, but Jaime never knew if Renly also knew about that, but at most, Jaime knew that aside of him, Tyrion and Sandor also knew about those magical 'Hamon' powers. Not that Jojo like to boast about that, Tyrion already lecturing him on keeping secrets and keeping his cards close to play that at the right time, so.

"I'm bored Uncle!" said Jojo. "And I started to miss both of my other uncles. Why both Father and Mother forbid them to accompany me to Casterly Rock anyway?"

"Eh, well, you knew that your grandfather never liked uncle Tyrion. And your mother do thought that getting too much near Renly might cause your fashion sense to deteriorate into fabulousness that she would not like." said Jaime with a grin.

"Said the fabulous Kingslayer himself." snorted Sandor while Jaime chuckled good naturedly.

"May we stop here for a while and look around, well you know." Jojo said with a wink.

"No and no, the King would not like his son's journey taking too long, and your Lord Grandfather would be worried sick about your safety if we didn't get as quickly as possible to Casterly Rock." said Jaime.

"Aww..."

"Think of this as yet another endurance training, Jojo. And let's be fair, everyone here must be tired of riding. Every time we reached a town we bought new horses to replace the previous, mostly exhausted ones to achieve maximum travelling speed, and the gold your Lord Grandfather spent to ensure your safety is simply enormous." explained Jaime.

"I knew uncle, but still." said Jojo.

"We must reach Westerland proper first, and only by then we could finally take a real rest. Your Lord Grandfather himself would ride to the border to join us with a large host to ensure your safety." said Jaime.

"Yet if we want to get the maximum travelling speed, just ditch the guards and have only you and Sandor ride at my side, that would be all easier, faster, and more discreet. Even cheaper with only replacing three horses every two days compared to replacing twenty-one horses every two days, would be fewer replacements too as we could go faster." retorted Jojo.

"Your mother would not agree with that. Hell, if we actually listened to your mother, she would insist on you travel with a big, thousand strong army." said Jaime with a chuckle.

"And if there's an assassin, he would have easier time slipping in a thousand men host compared to slip into well known eighteen men." said Jojo with a smile.

"You definitely has Tyrion's brain, boy." Jaime beamed with pride. "Still, we only need around a day's ride to get into Golden Tooth and we could finally spend our night in a proper castle instead of camping in the hedges."

"Yeah, Grandfather would wait there, aren't he?" asked Jojo.

"He's a punctual man and he is very eager to see you." said Jaime. "Your mother told him much."

"Last time I see him is seven years ago, didn't know if he still remembers me."

"He will remember you, boy." said Jaime while mentally added to himself 'and my father will continually bug me to left the Kingsguard and return as his heir. I don't know what should I say unto him'.

"You should leave the Kingsguard, uncle Jaime." said Jojo softly. "You know, with uncle Tyrion never had any bastard with his whoring on, you might be grandfather's last hope for having a direct male heir after all."

"Uh, well... you see... the Kingsguard vow is something that could never be easily discarded..." said Jaime nervously.

"Even if you killed the mad King?" said Jojo with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah. He's mad and he need a killing, so..."

"I knew the truth uncle." said Jojo with a sly smile.

Jaime's heart stopped and his smile quickly turned into frown, how could the boy in front of him knew his true reasons. "What did you knew, eh..."

Jojo whispered in a conspiratorial grin, "You're a sword swallower, right? Just like uncle Renly! YOU'RE A FAGGOT!"

Jaime facefaulted, partially relieved at his secret not being known to someone that could be his own son, but partially also want to vehemently deny the accusation and prove his heterosexuality.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" said Jojo with a cheerful laugh, while Jaime could only bit his tongue and hope that his father did not do anything... harsh... just like what he has done to put Tyrion on his place with the debacle of Tysha. "The real problem is now discovering who your gay lover are!"

"I AM NOT GAY!" Jaime shouts while everyone in the group chuckled under their helmets. Dammit dammit dammit everything to Seven Hells, why everyone coming into the worst of the wrong conclusions?

"Then why you refuse to leave Kingsguard? At worst your father would get you some fat lady to marry with, and you just need to laid back and think of Westerland." said Jojo with a chuckle.

"Stop it, you bastard!" said Jaime while smacking Jojo's head, while the later just laugh it off. "And anyone else who DARE to mouth it off will forfeit their life ON MY BLADE." threatened Jaime to the rest of the group and the chuckles suddenly turned into silence.

"Aww, mercy uncle... mercy... just joking..." said Jojo with a sly grin on his face.

"Sheesh, dammit... don't joke like that again." said Jaime while his smile returned halfway. "If your Lord Grandfather knew, I would end up under a big pile of shit."

NOTE : Sorry to Joseph/Caesar shippers out there, as told before, Joseph-in-Joffrey would be a skirt chaser despite the Joseph inside Joffrey definitely sounds gay and several shades disturbing if you read it the wrong way. Still, Renly is gay, there's no denying on that.